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The Halloween Kids (TV Movie)
The Halloween Kids is a Canadian-American Halloween special that aired in 1999. It was produced by Dolan/Tenner Productions and The Corning/Emerson Group. It aired on Fox Family in the US and YTV in Canada. The film is based on the first entry in the Halloween Gang book series. Elliot Strange moved to Vancouver to oversee the project and, until 2011, moved there permanently. Production The film's animation was produced by Studio B Productions and Mainframe Entertainment. Strange wanted to experiment with mending different forms of animation together to make the film look more appealing. He went with Studio B and Mainframe since both were located in Vancouver and it would simplify business negotiations. Production began in 1997. It was previously handled separately by Studio B and Mainframe. Studio B designed the characters and intended to produce the animation in house, but Strange was not pleased with what they presented, though he kept the character designs since he felt they were closer to those in the book. Inversely, when Mainframe presented their work to Strange, he liked the animation, but felt the design was lacking. He then created a compromise, where Studio B would continue work on the character design but outsource the animation duties to a new company. Hong Ying Animation beat out ten other possible candidates, which included Sunwoo, TMS Entertainment and AKOM. Still having a contract with Mainframe, Strange offered to have them produce set-pieces and visual gags for the special, which would be overlaid on the animation cells. The minimalist nature of the set-pieces enabled them to add more detail to them in less time. Mainframe provided a roster of actors, but Strange wasn't pleased with any of them, opting to go with a random selection of actors he felt best represented his characters. The only actors he kept from the original lineup were Lee Tokar, Brian Drummond and Erin Fitzgerald. Mae Whitman, Melissa Fahn and Cree Summer are the only American actors in the film. Strange casted them to see if any viewers could contrast them from the remaining Canadian actors. Plot The film starts with a philosopher gem in an office. A mysterious figure steals it and a magical entity is released from it. The entity attacks a bird in a cage and retreats into the woods, where the intro begins with shots around a town. The opening ends at Lynn Strait Public School and we see a young boy, Tommy, giving a presentation on Royce, the town hero. His project ends with disgustful responses from the students, even the teacher Ms. Chapley. Chapley has Alison and Colleen, the school losers, give their presentation next. Their presentation centers on a mythological creature they reportedly saw called a Stinamal, and how Royce might be connected to it, given his mixed influence on the town. It receives underwhelming feedback, and mockery from the divas, Kelsey and Jane and the bullies, Dante, Devlin and Damien. Alison and Colleen do receive some defense from the wise Priscilla and the nerds Sparky and Brighton, but it fails to go anywhere. The disfavor towards them furthers under the command of Tommy, who is a staunch advocate for Royce. Alison and Colleen get thrown into a trashcan and are knocked down the stairs. Both are disappointed that nobody believes them and decide to just go home. On the way though, they come across the creature and get wedgied onto tree branches, which further tears down their mood. Alison offers to cheer themselves off by spending the rest of the day doing what they enjoy doing. They start off by playing basketball at the park, but get into a match with the bullies and wind up losing their ball. The bullies soon encounter the monster. It the cuts to a young girl, Pamela, following her sister Priscilla home. Priscilla claims that she's going to a Halloween party and Pamela wants to go, but Priscilla coldly tells her no since it's intended for older kids. Pamela keeps trying to convince her but is blown off completely. She retreats to the park to meet with a group of kids, Royce’s goons, giving them the gem she stole as part of an agreement where they would stop bullying her, but they reveal it was a trick and make off with the gem while shoving her into a trash can. We return to Alison, who has made spaghetti club sandwiches for herself and Colleen and the two watch cartoons. Suddenly, a news report plays, talking about how Dante, Devlin and Damien were shoved into a dumpster that was pushed down a hill and crashed into a pile of fertilizer. Alison and Colleen believe it has something to do with the Stinamal. It goes to a montage where their other classmates are going through similar fates. Sparky and Brighton have been hung by the mouths on a weather vane, Randall and Russell have been wedgied on the town's flagpole, Tiberius' pants were pulled down while he was playing football and he crashes into a crate of produce, Julie’s Walkman is stolen and while trying to retrieve it, she is flung into a revolving book display and barfs on the librarian's pants after getting dizzy, a crate of black widows lands on Flip and he removes his clothes to get rid of them which catches the attention of those passing by, Sam crashes into a tree after something spooks her up close and she gets drenched in spoiled milk, Mandy gets spooked by an artificial liver thrown near her and she wets herself, Priscilla is cleaning the gutters, but finds a rat and falls backwards into a dumpster, Elise nearly gets burned alive when a CAT scanner malfunctions and the doctor is too busy taking a call and in a double take, a love letter Jenny wrote for Jerry winds up in the hands of a group of bullies which embarrass the both of them. These fates have been evaluated by Royce, the town hero, and he assures everyone that they will be rectified. These occurrences are soon made known by Mayor Hubbard, who's learning that tourism rates are plummeting. He discovers that his gem is missing and recalls that the last person in his office was Pamela. He begins searching her room and after finding Pamela, scolds her for taking the gem. He takes her to go look for it, but is unsuccessful and abandons Pamela as a result. Soon, she encounters the Stinamal who kicks her flat into the woods. Back to Alison and Colleen, they're trying to warn the town of the Stinamal, which mostly works until Kelsey and Jane, yet to encounter the Stinamal, arrive to taunt the two. Tommy furthers their mockery and claims that they're responsible for what has happened to the kids. It leads to a heated argument and then a physical fight which Alison and Colleen get blamed for by Royce, who further disavows the Stinamal and reaffirms Tommy's claims. The two give up and simply go home, preparing for the worst Kelsey and Jane then encounter the Stinamal who steals their clothes and embarrasses them in front of the whole town. At night, the kids have nightmares about the Stinamal, and fearing that they'll die as a form of karma, they retreat into the woods. They hear someone following them and run deeper into the woods, only to get cornered. After pleading for their lives, they discover no one is there. They then hear the sound of crying and see it's Alison and Colleen. The kids apologize for being mean to them and not believing them before it was too late. They want to start over and team up to stop the Stinamal, which the girls agree to. Alison and Colleen suggest that they find a hideout to contemplate their next move. They find the hideout, in the form of an abandoned house by the playground and the kids start a campfire to ease their nerves. Alison and Colleen tell a campfire story centered on the Stinamal. The Stinamal's origins trace as far back as the 16th century, where a young boy terrorized his village and his vitriolic nature manifested into a beastly form. He has survived for many centuries by feasting on souls, doing so before midnight every Halloween. They enter the house and go to the upmost floor to sleep. In the morning, the kids are awoken by Rufus, the town's canine mascot. They want to keep him with them for protection. Alison makes everyone breakfast and they all get to know one another, eventually solidifying their friendship. The gang decide to report the Stinamal to the mayor, and upon getting to him they find he is only more than happy to help them. He reveals that the Stinamal has been kept under control, thanks to a gem that releases a hidden energy, but it has been stolen. The kids opt to look for it, but he's reluctant to because he doesn't want anyone to die under his watch and because he had no luck finding the gem himself. Sam opts to lead the search since she at least knows the woods better than anyone else, and he reluctantly agrees. The kids set out to the woods to look for the gem, and after searching well into the night, Rufus sniffs it out, but Royce takes it. The kids try to convince him to give the gem back, but he refuses. They bring up the gem belongs to the mayor and they want to return it to him, but he still refuses and resorts to taunting the kids. The kids then fight back and snatch the gem, but this angers Royce to the point that he transforms into a monster, revealing that he's the Stinamal. He tries to get the gem back, but the kids run and manage to lose him. The Stinamal begins terrorizing Trick-or-Treaters to lure the kids out, but they remain hidden until they could find a good opportunity to get to the mayor. They run for the office, but get caught by the Stinamal, who summons other people he cursed to be like him. Rufus is lured to the Stinamal to the kids' confusion and horror, and they learn that Rufus is also a monster like the others. The monsters attack the kids in an attempt to get the gem. The gem falls out of Alison's pocket after she's knocked to the ground, and the Stinamal prepares to smash it. Colleen manages to get it and it's tossed to the other kids. It lands in Jerry's hands, but he trips while still holding it. The Stinamal prepares to kill Jerry, but Jenny leaps in front and gets her leg broken. She is saved by Jerry who helps her to the mayor. The kids manage to get the gem to the mayor's office, but are held back by the monsters. Just when all hope seems to be lost, the monsters begin to weaken, it's past midnight and the monsters begin to wither away. The gem is put into the stand and the monsters are absorbed into it, whilst the souls they've consumed get released. The kids see the spirit of Rufus leave its body, showing pure sorrow. The kids forgive Rufus before his spirit leaves forever and the kids grieve. Pamela and the mayor enter the office and the kids tell them the monsters have been defeated. Pamela gives a tearful apology for the trouble she has caused, and claims that she will wait until she's older to do what the older kids do. Priscilla admits that if the gem was left untouched, the Stinamal would've still been an issue, as anyone could remove the gem and allow him to come back. The sisters make up with a hug. The gang decides to celebrate their victory by attending the town's annual Halloween party, but the mayor claims that the venue was destroyed by the Stinamal prior, leaving the kids disappointed. Alison and Colleen then come up with a way for the mayor to repay them. They bring up the abandoned house and he decides to let them keep the property since nobody has ever claimed it, and set up a private party for them. The kids are visited by Manfred, the last owner of Rufus, and they tell him that Rufus died. He explains that Royce helped Rufus years ago, and he had no idea that he would turn Rufus into one of his minions. To repay the kids for saving the town, he gives them another one of his dogs which they name Duke. The kids congratulate themselves on saving the town and decide to make their pact full-time. They decide to dedicate every Halloween to protecting the town from any mythological or paranormal threats. Characters * Alison: A spunky talkative girl and the leader of the Halloween Kids. She is knowledgeable on everything obscure or irrelevant to what's currently happening, with a varying payoff. Since she was the first to discover the club's first monster, she had leeway in becoming their leader. She wears shades frequently, implied to occur due to some kind of eye disorder. * Colleen: Alison's best friend and her second in command. She is somewhat shy, though she seems to always give a clever one-liner when she talks to anyone. Both she and Alison were considered social outcasts (especially given that they're Americans in a predominantly-Canadian community) because of their weird behavior, but eventually gain the respect of the other kids. * Priscilla: Tries to serve as a voice of reason and prides herself as having a higher moral compass than the others. However, she is cruel to her younger sister, spurred by her father's favoritism toward her. She's the daughter of the mayor. * Tiberius: A "hit first, ask later" kind of kid. He delves right into action without a second thought, which is done due to him wanting to look tough and show a semblance of worth to the club. * Dante, Devlin and Damien: The school bullies. Dante is the milder of the three and always manages to come up with decent justifications for his misdeeds. Damien is the slower of the three and is more or less annoying. Devlin seems to have genuine contempt for the two and the rest of the world, which the club utilizes to maintain emotional balance. * Sparky and Brighton: Identical twin nerds. They try to rationalize everything with science, but get turned away almost every time. Dante, Devlin and Damien have a hold over Sparky, since the latter maces Sparky when he gets too annoying. Brighton hates confrontation and tries to maintain peace between them and the bullies, but backs down when anyone threatens him. * Kelsey and Jane: The school divas. Kelsey maintains the diva facade because she fears she'd be treated poorly by everyone else, also spurred by low self-esteem and a sheltered childhood. She tries to be smart with her snide comments so people won't accuse her of being mean for the sake of it. Jane is the polar opposite to Kelsey yet sticks with her because they knew each other since preschool, There're times that she makes crueler comments, telling people to die by associating themselves with causes of death for celebrities, though nobody but Alison gets her analogies. * Elise: Seems to be in her own world, giving commentary on what's happing around her. She visits the doctors frequently and there's almost always something wrong with her, particularly in the oral department. She also tends to have poor luck. * Randall and Russel: Business-savy brothers. They have each have a strong work etiquette and are well-regarded students. Both of them find it difficult to get down and dirty and have fun because they rarely played with other kids in their earlier years. * Sam: A girl who's into magic and planting. It's implied that she's a Wiccan, but she keeps it under wraps so she could make friends easier and maintain a normal life. She spends her time in the woods and seeming has the strongest grasp on the town, giving her the ability to lead her friends into unknown territory. She has a pet cat, Jade. * Julie: A goth punk girl who often takes the role of a contrarian, especially in life-or-death situations. This is spurred by a fear of her or any of her friends dying. She seems to be adamant in looking and acting cool because she was bullied in earlier years, and her style reflects that. She enjoys chewing gum and listening to her walkman. * Jenny: A perpetually naive girl whom because of her naivety, is the source of mockery from other students. She serves as the group's proverbial heart, and keeps it stable. She has a crush on Jerry, which stemmed from him defending her when she misheard something Ms. Chapley said. * Jerry: A cowardly boy with good intentions, seen the most with Julie and Ori. Unbeknownst to Jenny, he has a crush on her too, namely because he felt she was too naive to see his worst qualities. He tries to hide his cowardliness by acting cool, but his closest friends see through it. * Flip: An African-American boy who's an expert on insect life and could come up with strategies in dealing with deadly creatures. Tends to be ignorant of bigger issues when his favorite bugs get harmed. He has a pet tarantula named Calamari. * Mandy: A reserved tall student who seems to be an expert on the paranormal. She became so after going through a disturbing prank when she was younger. She is very organized and tries to lay down the line in a rational fashion, though dry negativity seeps through. * Duke: The kids' shared dog, and their mascot. * Rufus: The town mascot. An old dog (claimed to be 10) whom the kids like. It's revealed that Rufus was granted immortality by the Stinamal and became a tragic minion. Rufus' soul was laid to rest after the Stinamal was defeated. * Pamela: Jenny's younger sister. Jenny is often mean to her, which is a vague means of trying to prevent Pamela from getting hurt and was also spurred by favoritism toward her. She is responsible for Stine's appearance in town, due to stealing her father's philosopher gem which kept Stine away. * Mayor Hubbard: The town mayor. A genuinely caring individual who wants to create and maintain a free but orderly environment. He tends to be hard on Elise, which molded her cold attitude toward Pamela, but he only does it to toughen her up for the near future. * Royce (the Stinamal): Royce was the town hero, though everyone was unaware that he used his supernatural powers to bring himself to such an accolade. Royce is the legendary Stinamal, but he was unable to act because of the effects of a cursed gem. As a human, he was arrogant and mean to children, only acting nice when someone important was present. He turned his most devout followers into monsters like him, doing so for many centuries. He is eventually destroyed after failing to capture souls before midnight, and the return of the gem would prevent him from resurfacing ever again. * Tommy: An annoying chid who idolizes Royce and has a strong disfavor toward adults. His class formally associated with him when everyone hated Alison and Colleen, but they abandoned him after making peace with the latter two girls. They see his true colors as a boy who would sell-out anyone at any time to abide to Royce. In spite of Royce turning his followers into monsters, Tommy never became one. * Ms. Chapley: The kids' teacher. She allows her students to engage in disobedient behavior so she could record it for her own amusement. Cast * Mae Whitman: Alison * Melissa Fahn: Colleen * Alyson Court: Priscilla * Cree Summer: Elise * Peter Kelamis: Sparky * David Paul Grove: Brighton * Matt Hill: Dante * Tony Sampson: Devlin * Peter Oldring: Damien * Ashley Taylor: Kelsey * Chantal Strand: Jane * Ian James Corlett: Randall * Richard Ian Cox: Russell * Lee Tokar: Tiberius * Carrie Finlay: Sam * Lenore Zann: Julie * Sarah Gadon: Jenny * Daniel DeSanto: Flip * Brian Drummond: Jerry * Erin Fitzgerald: Mandy * Tracey Moore: Pamela * Terry Klassen: Royce * Roger Dunn: Mayor Hubbard * Ellen Ray Hennessy: Ms. Chapley * Tony Rosato: Manfred Manley Manson * Kath Soucie: Tommy Trivia * On Canadian airings, Push It by Static-X is played in the opening sequence. The sequence was cut out entirely on American prints. * The film received little American backing. The only American aspects in the special were three of the actors, Mae Whitman, Melissa Fahn and Cree Summer. They were reportedly paid more money than the rest of the cast due to regional differences. * The usage of 20 characters was done because Strange wanted the focus to be on the group in general, showing those of different social classes putting aside their differences to work together for the better of their community. Another reason is that his original roster, predating the first book, consisted of 9 characters with a female-leaning ratio. He threw together all possible ideas to even out the male-female ratio. * While Strange was able to land a deal with YTV to air the film, he struggled to find an American network. He reportedly tried pitching the film to Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, KidsWB! and Fox Kids, but they rejected the film. It was instead moved to Fox Family. * It was going to air in Canada first and then in the US a year later, but after a misjudged deal, it wound up airing simultaneously in both countries. * The film only aired twice in the US in a back-to-back marathon. It aired in Canada every October until 2001, following the debut of its sequel, and it hasn't been seen since. It turned up on an obscure triple-feature VHS tape containing this and twi Christian themed animated specials. * The film has garnered some notoriety on the internet because of its obscurity. Viewers who never saw the film debated on whether or not it was traditionally animated or CG animated, due to conflicting screenshots showing the main film and the CG visual gags. * Strange reported that DHX Media successors to Studio B, spitefully kept the film from going public due to Strange openly mocking the company. He kept one of the master copies as a souvenir to commemorate the completion of the project and he had it posted on his YouTube channel. Differences from the book The changes were mandated by Elliot Strange. * The book was set in the fictional Woodrot Village, which was said to be somewhere in Oregon. The location remained the same, but the providence it's part of was changed to Vancouver, perhaps to appeal to Canadian viewers as this was a Canadian project. * The kids had an undefined age, but in the special, they're hinted to be 12 and are in their final year of elementary school. * The book contained characters that got killed, and one of them was Rufus. Although, Rufus was amongst the souls that were released at the end of the film. The casualties were changed to minions of Royce. * Tommy was never part of the books prior to this film, although he did appear in the last two books in the Halloween Gang series. * The film took the book's international title. Quotes Presentations * Ms. Chapley: I see someone wants a failing grade. * Tommy: Er-not at all Ms. Chapley *muttering* Old bag of beans.... * Ms. Chapley: And that wraps it up for- * Alison: Wait! We haven't gone yet! * Ms. Chapley: Meeks, Dixon, do you even have your presentation? * Colleen: As a matter of fact we do. * Ms. Chapley: I was afraid of that. Hallway Prank * Jerry: Girls dig the dreads, right? Or should I just tie it back? * Julie: My butt hurts, can I take my thumb out of it and leave now? * (sees the cloaked figure and kicks it in the chest) * Julie: '''How cute. * '''Devlin: *coughing* I think you knocked something loose. * Dante: It's funny how you say nothing when we toss those freaks into the trash and knock them down the stairs, but oh boy if we do a milder prank we deserve to go the way of Houdini. Walking Home * Pamela: Hiya sis. * Priscilla: So much for the peaceful walk. What's up Pamela? * Pamela: I'm looking forward to that Halloween party. What'll you be dressing as, and will we still go trick-or-treating together? * Priscilla: First off, costumes are a drag. Second, this party is for big kids only. * Pamela: But, there're bigger kids than you. * Priscilla: Right, but I'm older than you, goes for my class too, so in essence, we're the big kids, at least to people like you. * Pamela: Well you got me there. * Priscilla: Now get lost. Town Warning * Alison: May I have your attention please? Your children are in danger. It starts with a cruel prank and ends in tragedy. Mothers, fathers, the few cases of single families, lock up your children, otherwise face the wrath of the Stinamal. * Kelsey: Pssh, you're still on about that thing? * Jane: Why don't you do something more important, like going to Hotel Chelsea and take a broken lightbulb to the wrist. * Colleen: Where have you two been? Our entire class had to deal with the Stinamal. * Kelsey: We haven't seen it, so there's no way it could exist. * Alison: Oh we're sorry, we forgot that you're the main authority on what does and doesn't exist. Your vainness gave it away. * Kelsey: How dare you! In the Woods (the kids find each other in the woods) * Kelsey: The Stinamal! It's following me! * Randall: That's impossible! * Russell: It's been following us. * Sam: It's... it's everywhere! * (hears footsteps) * Mandy: It's coming! * (the kids run and get cornered by a large boulder) * Jerry: We're screwed! * Dante: None of this would be happening if we listened to those weirdos. * Damien: Now we're paying the price. * Flip: Oh God! Please don't let us die! * Julie: Give us another chance! We'll set things right! Please! Making Up (the kids hear crying and peer over a ledge, seeing Alison and Colleen crying, facing away from them) * Priscilla: Alison? Colleen? * Alison: Yes? * Julie: We're... we're happy you're ok. * Colleen: Why? So you could bring us down again? Can't let weirdos like us live happy. * Kelsey: We feel horrible for what we've done. We want to start over. * Alison: You're just saying that because you were attacked by the Stinamal. * Colleen: And you want us to save you from going the way of Sid Vicious or Phil Hartman. * Jane: Ouch. * Mandy: Yes, we do need your help to stay alive, but we do feel bad for being complete jerks to you. * Alison: Guys...? W-why're you being so nice to us? * Julie: We never got to see things the way you two do, and it burned us. Maybe we are just a bunch of irredeemable, selfish... jerks. * Alison: Don't beat yourselves up over this. In a way, we both liked you, wanted to be your friends. When you want to expose the weird, it comes with a price. You all just reacted like any normal kid would. * Priscilla: We don't want to be mean, at least I never wanted to. In a way, we're all weird, but I guess we lost sight on that. * Flip: Could you ever forgive us? * (Alison and Colleen join them) * Alison and Colleen: You bet.